ABC's official recap:
AdriftAir Date: 09/28/2005
Out on the ocean, we find Michael and Sawyer clinging to a couple of pieces of bamboo, trying to survive the elements - but no sign of Jin or Walt. While Michael tries to deal with Walt's abduction, we flashback to learn how he lost Walt in a custody battle with Susan.
On the island, Claire discovers Charlie's Virgin Mary statue, but remains unaware of its contents. And we back up in time to see the journey into the hatch from Locke's perspective, where he encounters Desmond, a man who seems rather concerned about entering a sequence of familiar numbers into a computer.
In the end, Michael and Sawyer make it to shore and are reunited with Jin, only to encounter a whole new element: the Others.Well, we learned what's up with the castaways. But what's doing on down in Hatchland?
Things noticed--with speculation!--Desmond seems a wee tad on the paranoid side. It seems he's been in that hole for a while (but not since the heyday of vinyl, because we saw him in that fairly recent flashback with Jack). There are
hashmarks all over
one wall.
--Desmond seems perplexed when Locke tells him that none of the plane passengers have become ill. And he's somewhat surprised to hear things are going business-as-usual out in the real world.
--Desmond seems completely unaware what's going on topside on the island itself. He didn't know about the plane crash and didn't notice anyone nosing around the Hatch until Locke and company blew its top off.
--Speculation: Is Desmond a member of sect/cult/secret society involved in or aware of some germ warfare scheme to destroy the world or society? Is that why he's hiding out, afraid of exposure to whatever "bug" is outside? Or has someone manufactured such a story to keep him in the hatch?
--We got a closer look at the symbol that's pretty much everywhere down in the Hatch: On the walls, Desmond's jump suit and on all those boxes of food Kate spots in the storeroom.
Numerous folks on the Web have noticed it's similarity to a Ba-Gua, an ancient Chinese octagon symbol containing symbols found in the
I-Ching centered around a yin-yang symbol.
A little more info
here.
Desmond's version is customized, with what looks like an outline of a swan in place of the yin-yang and the word "
dharma."
Is this the symbol of whatever organization Desmond is part of?
--Desmond is waiting for/expecting somebody in particular. He asks Locke "are you him?" Evidently he doesn't know the person due to arrive. A password has been set up. He asks Locke, "what did one snowman say to the other snowman." When Locke doesn't know, Desmond determines Locke isn't the guy. Could the expected person be Walt or Claire's baby? Hurley? Googling the joke/password, the punchline that comes up is: "Do you smell carrots too" or some variation therof.
--Some folks think it's significant the plane crash survivors have been on the island
44 days.
--What's up with this thing?
Is it some sort of timer Desmond forces Locke to reset (to "108") by typing in the Numbers. Does it have something to do with the island's "defense system"? Other
ideas. Plus this
fascinating theory.
--Entirely missed by me during the show, but apparently Desmond's logo is also on the
shark Michael and Sawyer encounter.
--The Apollo candy bars Kate finds apparently
really exist.
--In the conference room where Michael is meeting with his wife and their respective attorneys about custody of Walt, you can see a model of an old-fashioned sailing ship in the background. A reference to the Black Rock?
--In a flashback, Michael is shown giving toddler Walt a stuffed polar bear.
--Here's an
alleged Korean translation of what Jin was shouting to Michael and Sawyer at the episode's end.
--Are the folks rushing toward Michael, Sawyer and Jin
"the Others" or survivors from the plane's tail section? We see in the preview for next week's episode that at least one fellow passenger, Ana-Lucia, is alive and on the island.
Random stuff--A
discussion about Jack's still unexplained tattoo.
--A
map of the Hatch and lots of theories about it.
--Does Walt's mom figure into all this somehow? Who is she working for, exactly? What did she get sick with? Was it the illness Desmond is so concerned about? Does she get a funny look when Michael tells Walt he's his father?
--A very interesing
discussion of the Numbers.
